Some Girls Do * (1969, Richard Johnson, Daliah Lavi, Beba Loncar) – Classic Movie Review 9130

Director Ralph Thomas’s 1969 comedy action adventure thriller Some Girls Do is the mostly tedious sequel to Deadlier than the Male, in which Richard Johnson returns as Sapper’s spy hero character Hugh Bulldog Drummond, who this time tries hard to stop the evil plans of Carl Petersen (James Villiers) and his gang of villainous dolly birds who are working to sabotage Britain’s new supersonic aeroplane.

Some Girls Do is part Sixties spoof and part sub-Bond adventure, with far too much jokey nonsense and not enough plot, thrills or pizzazz. Richard Johnson gives a stodgy central performance that fails to fire up the movie. Robert Morley’s star cameo as a chef, Miss Mary, is the chief highlight among the clutch banal characters.

It is a sign of the inherent conservatism and nervous uncertainty in the British film industry at the time that the Rank Organisation was turning for inspiration to something so old fashioned as Bulldog Drummond, even with dolly birds and a few hip Sixties trimmings. Maybe Rank executives were encouraged because Richard Johnson had been offered the role of 007 first for the original Bond movie Dr No and they wanted a share of the Bond spy success. Poor Richard Johnson may be the star, but he doesn’t exactly figure much on the poster, which promotes dolly birds and bikinis.

Also in the cast are Daliah Lavi as Helga, Beba Loncar as Pandora, Sydne Rome as Flicky, Robert Morley, Ronnie Stevens, Maurice Denham, Adrienne Posta, Florence Desmond, Virginia North, Nicholas Phipps, Yutte Stensgaard, George Belbin and Richard Hurndall.

Lee Vanderbilt sings Some Girls Do, music by Charles Blackwell and lyrics by Don Black.

Some Girls Do is directed by Ralph Thomas, runs 93 minutes, is made by Rank Organisation and Ashdown Film Productions, is released by Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1969) (UK) and United Artists (1971) (US), is written by David D Osborn and Liz Charles-Williams, based on Sapper’s character Bulldog Drummond, is shot by Ernest Steward, is produced by Betty E Box, is scored by Charles Blackwell and is designed by Martin Atkinson.

Actress Daliah Lavi died at the age of 74 in May 2017. She also appeared in the 1967 Casino Royale and The Silencers.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9130

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